Reform UK has pledged to use 'every instrument of power' to prevent asylum seekers from being housed in areas where the party now controls councils, its chair Zia Yusuf has confirmed. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Yusuf said the party would employ 'judicial reviews, injunctions, planning laws' to resist accommodation arrangements, even where the Home Office holds contracts with hotel providers.
Yusuf's comments follow those of party leader Nigel Farage, who vowed to 'resist' housing asylum seekers in the ten council areas won by Reform in last week's local elections. The party secured over 670 seats overall, taking control of several councils. Yusuf acknowledged that Reform may not be able to stop existing Home Office contracts but insisted legal challenges were being explored.
Andrea Jenkyns, Reform's newly elected Greater Lincolnshire mayor, suggested that asylum seekers could be housed in tents instead of hotels, telling LBC: 'This is taxpayers' money and it should actually be tents, not rent.' Jenkyns also proposed cutting up to 10% of Lincolnshire County Council's staff to 'root out the waste', despite acknowledging that no Reform council leader has yet been elected there.
Reform has also pledged to introduce taskforces to audit council spending and reduce diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Yusuf said the party was 'realistic' about the limited powers of local government compared to Westminster, describing the local gains as 'part of a journey to making Nigel the prime minister'. Unison's head has urged staff at Reform-run councils to join the union for protection, to which Jenkyns responded she was 'up for a fight'.
